Join me on my quest to attend all 162 Brewers games during the 2012 season, while raising awareness for the Be The Match Registry along the way.

8-6-12 (vs. Cincinnati)

I got up at 11:00 on Monday and worked on the post for the finale in St. Louis. I left the house at 3:15 and when I was halfway to Milwaukee I realized I had forgotten my preferred parking pass at the home. My sister is home from seeing the world and had a giant backpack on a bench where I normally lay everything out the night before (including the next day’s parking pass). I’m not blaming her for me forgetting it I’m just explaining the situation.

I stopped at Noodles and Company in Delafield on my way to the game and had Pad Thai for lunch/dinner. I know it’s not authentic Thai food but I still like their rendition of the dish. While I was there I noticed a mother and her baby boy along with the mother’s mother. I was in my roaming-the-parking-lot mentality and I stopped by and told them about my mission and if they were aware of umbilical cord donation. She had no idea but sounded intrigued and said she would tell others about the registry. Nice!

I had called my season ticket representative, Chris, after realizing I forgot my parking pass. I had thought about trying to convince the parking attendants that I had forgotten mine at home, but thought better of it. Chris said he could get a replacement to me and that I should stop by the executive offices in the right field corner of Miller Park. I got there at 4:50 and waited in the lobby, where they have a nice Miller Park model in a glass case. Everything is pretty accurate besides the absence of Bernie’s slide.

Chris came down from his office and I thanked him for helping me out. Thanks Chris! I drove over to the preferred lot and was parked shortly after 5:00. I wasn’t meeting my twitter follower, Bob, until 6:20, so I had plenty of time to roam and spread the word. I probably wound up talking to 50 or so people, and it felt good. A lady that I talked to said she saw the Robin Roberts story and was going to join but forgot to. I reminded her and she said she would likely go to one of the upcoming drives in the Milwaukee area. In August there are drives in Milwaukee on Thursday the 9th, Friday the 17th, Friday the 24th, and Saturday the 25th. There is also one in Racine on Saturday the 18th. If you haven’t joined yet and you live in the Milwaukee area, check it out.

I met Bob outside of the home plate entrance at 6:20 and we went inside. Section 103 was the location for game photo number 108 and we got it done in three tries.

Game number 108 marks the 2/3 point of the season. It’s flying by and I can’t believe there are only 54 games left, including a minuscule FOUR road trips!

Bob has a ball and glove tattoo on his left tricep and it’s pretty cool. I’m planning on getting a Brewers tattoo at some point, but I haven’t decided what and where as of yet. I mentioned to Bob that I considered getting the Brewers logo progression across my upper back. He thought that would be cool and reminded me that they have a mural of just that inside the right field gate. I think I’ve entered there once this year but had forgotten all about it. The Brewers were the Seattle Pilots for one season before moving to Milwaukee in 1970 (thus the Pilots logo). If I got the progression as a tattoo I would leave out the Pilots logo.

Bob and I walked around and said hi to the Ice Man and then to Bill, the friendly usher above section 216. I’ve mentioned him many times but never got my picture taken with him, no more. I shake Bill’s hand before (almost) every home game. If I’m carrying stuff I’ll give him knuckles or maybe even a forearm exchange. You the man, Bill!

We sat in our seats and discussed baseball (and other topics) to pass the time before the game got underway. At 7:10 Yovani Gallardo delivered a called strike to Reds shortstop Zack Cozart. Technically he hasn’t “delivered” the pitch yet in the picture below, but now you know that he threw it to the catcher and not into the stands.

Cesar Izturis was claimed off of waivers and the Brewers called up Jean Segura from Double-A Huntsville. He was the main piece in the Zack Greinke trade and he started at shortstop on Monday. He only got three at bats with the Angels, and was hitless in those at bats, so he was still searching for his first major league hit. When he came up in the bottom of the third I moved down the third base line just a bit to get a better angle of his first Brewers at bat. The result?

He wound up going 0-4 with two strikeouts and I’m guessing he was a little overanxious and tried to impress everyone right away. Hopefully he can be the Brewers starting shortstop for years to come and I’m looking forward to seeing his first 54 games on the big league roster.

It was a scoreless game at halftime (the middle of the 5th inning) when Maldonado doubled to open the bottom half. Segura flew out to right and Maldonado advanced to third on the play. Gallardo stepped to the plate and helped out his own cause by ripping a base hit to left field to drive in Maldo.

Braun led off the bottom of the 6th with a fly out to right field. Over the next 12 pitches this happened:

Bingo, Bango, Bongo!!! Ramirez hit a solo home run and two pitches later Hart sent a moon shot into the Harley Davidson Deck in left-center field. Rickie Weeks followed Chart with a single and Martín Maldonado put one just over the fence down the line in left. Bam! Brewers take a 5-0 lead.

The Reds got a solo home run in the seventh and after the Brewers batted in the bottom half I had a lady behind us take a picture of me and Bob.

Did you expect to see someone older than 21? Even though I had seen his picture on Twitter I had kind of forgotten so when he came up to me in front of Miller Park it caught me off guard for a second. Call me a name profiler but most everyone would’ve thought the same thing. He said he’ll sometimes introduce himself as Bobby just because it doesn’t seem as strange. He said his grandfather had the same name and I dropped some knowledge on Bob. I told him that if he and his grandfather share the same middle name, then Bob would be a Jr. (II), or III if his grandfather had the same name as an older relative. I had recently done some reading on the topic because I was curious about Jr, Sr., the II, the III, etc. Victoria is NOT pregnant if you thought that was the reason for the research. Bob donated $40 to Be The Match to join me on Monday and I’m very grateful. He also donated two Coors Lights to my stomach. Thanks Bob!!!

Things got interesting in the 8th inning. The Brewers led 5-1 going in but Francisco Rodriguez loaded the bases with only one out. John Axford came in and gave up an RBI single and a sacrifice fly but escaped the inning with the Brewers leading 5-3. In the bottom half of the 8th the Brewers got one back and in the 9th Axford retired the side in order; Brewers win! Final Score: Brewers 6 – Reds 3.

It’s past noon and I’ll be leaving in three hours for game two of the series. I’ll be joined by another twitter follower today and I’m looking forward to spending three hours with another stranger. Go Brewers!!!

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